Heavy N(+) ion transfer in doubly charged N(2)Ar van der Waals cluster

Van der Waals clusters are weakly bound atomic/molecular systems and are an important medium for understanding micro-environmental chemical phenomena in bio-systems. The presence of neighboring atoms may open channels otherwise forbidden in isolated atoms/molecules. In hydrogen-bond clusters, proton transfer plays a crucial role, which involves mass and charge migration over large distances within the cluster and results in its fragmentation. Here we report an exotic transfer channel involving a heavy N(+) ion observed in a doubly charged cluster produced by 1 MeV Ne(8+) ions: (N(2)Ar)(2+)→N(+)+NAr(+). The neighboring Ar atom decreases the [Formula: see text] barrier height and width, resulting in significant shorter lifetimes of the metastable molecular ion state [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] ). Consequently, the breakup of the covalent N(+)−N(+) bond, the tunneling out of the N(+) ion from the [Formula: see text] potential well, as well as the formation of an N−Ar(+) bound system take place almost simultaneously, resulting in a Coulomb explosion of N(+) and NAr(+) ion pairs.